TABLE OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS—ContinuedRegions of the Sources of the Mississippi.PLACES OF OBSERVATION.Altitudesabove theGulf ofMexico.Northlatitudes.WEST OF GREENWICH.Authorities,&c.Longitudesin time.Longitudesin arc.Feet.°´´´h.m.s.°´´´Gayashk River, or Little Gull River, the mouth1,13146185061744942600Nicollet.Gayashk Lake, or Little Gull Lake, end of Long Point1,15246242861730942230do.Kadicomeg Lake, or WhiteFish Lake, the entrance of Pine River1,1924640256161094230do.Lake Chanché, southwest end...464635......do.Lake Eccleston, northwest end...465700......do.Leech Lake, Ottertail Point1,38047114061720942000do.Leech Lake, the bay opposite Ottertail Point...4772261728942200do.Kabekonang River, the junction of the upper fork, near the nextmentioned portage1,406471600......do.Portage from Kabekonang River to La Place River, near the west end1,540471500......do.Assawa Lake, below the south end1,53247121061940945500do.Highest ridge on the portage between Assawa Lake and Itasca Lake1,695.........do.Cleared pine camp, on Leech Lake River...47180061600940000do.5. SCENERY.X.Scenery of Lake Superior.ByHenry R. Schoolcraft.Few portions of America can vie in scenic attractions with this interior sea. Its size alone gives it all the elements of grandeur; but these have been heightened by the mountain masses which nature has piled along its shores. In some places, these masses consist of vast walls, of coarse gray, or drab-colored sandstone, placed horizontally, until they have attained many hundred feet in height above the water. The action of such an immense liquid area, forced against these crumbling walls by tempests, has caused wide and deep arches to be worn into the solid structure, at their base, into which the billows roll, with a noise resembling low-pealing thunder. By this means, large areas of the impending mass are at length undermined and precipitated into the lake, leaving the split and rent parts, from which they have separated, standing like huge misshapen turrets and battlements. Such is the varied coast, called the Pictured Rocks.At other points of the coast, volcanic forces have operated, lifting up these level strata into positions nearly vertical, and leaving them to stand, like the leaves of a vast open book. At the same time, the volcanic rocks sent up from below, have risen in high mountains, with ancient gaping craters. Such is the condition of the disturbed stratification at the Porcupine Mountains.The basin and bed of this lake act like a vast geological mortar, in which the masses of broken and fallen stones are whirled about and ground down, till all the softer ones, such as the sandstones, are brought into the state of pure yellow sand. This sand is driven ashore by the waves, where it is shoved up in long wreaths, and dried by the sun. The winds now take it up, and spread it inland, or pile it immediately along the coast, where it presents itself in mountain masses. Such are the great sand dunes of the Grande Sables.There are yet other theatres of action for this sublime mass of inland waters, where the lake has manifested, perhaps, still more strongly, its abrasive powers. The whole force of its waters, underthe impulse of a northwest tempest, is directed against prominent portions of the shore, which consist of black and hard volcanic rocks. Solid as these are, the waves have found an entrance in veins of spar, or minerals of softer texture, and have thus been led on their devastating course inland, tearing up large fields of amygdaloid, or other rock; or, left portions of them standing in rugged knobs, or promontories. Such are the east and west coasts of the great peninsula of Keweena, which have recently become the theatre of mining operations.When the visitor to these remote and boundless waters comes to see this wide and varied scene of complicated geological disturbances and scenic magnificence, he is absorbed in wonder and astonishment. The eye, once introduced to this panorama of waters, is never done looking and admiring. Scene after scene, cliff after cliff, island after island, and vista after vista are presented. One day's scenes of the traveller are but the prelude to another; and when weeks, and even months, have been spent in picturesque rambles along its shores, he has only to ascend some of its streams, and go inland a few miles, to find falls, and cascades, and cataracts of the most beautiful or magnificent character. Go where he will, there is something to attract him. Beneath his feet are pebbles of agates; the water is of the most crystalline purity. The sky is filled, at sunset with the most gorgeous piles of clouds. The air itself is of the purest and most inspiring kind. To visit such a scene is to draw health from its purest sources, and while the eye revels in intellectual delights, the soul is filled with the liveliest symbols of God, and the most striking evidences of his creative power.(b)Letters of Mr. M. Woolsey.Southern Literary Messenger, 1836. Oneöta, p. 322.These spirited and graphic letters are unavoidably excluded. The evidence they bear to the purity of principle, justness of taste, and excellence of character of a young man, now no more, ought to preserve his name from oblivion. He accompanied me in 1831, as a volunteer, in a leisure moment, an admirer of nature, seeking health.INDEX
TABLE OF GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS—Continued
Regions of the Sources of the Mississippi.
Few portions of America can vie in scenic attractions with this interior sea. Its size alone gives it all the elements of grandeur; but these have been heightened by the mountain masses which nature has piled along its shores. In some places, these masses consist of vast walls, of coarse gray, or drab-colored sandstone, placed horizontally, until they have attained many hundred feet in height above the water. The action of such an immense liquid area, forced against these crumbling walls by tempests, has caused wide and deep arches to be worn into the solid structure, at their base, into which the billows roll, with a noise resembling low-pealing thunder. By this means, large areas of the impending mass are at length undermined and precipitated into the lake, leaving the split and rent parts, from which they have separated, standing like huge misshapen turrets and battlements. Such is the varied coast, called the Pictured Rocks.
At other points of the coast, volcanic forces have operated, lifting up these level strata into positions nearly vertical, and leaving them to stand, like the leaves of a vast open book. At the same time, the volcanic rocks sent up from below, have risen in high mountains, with ancient gaping craters. Such is the condition of the disturbed stratification at the Porcupine Mountains.
The basin and bed of this lake act like a vast geological mortar, in which the masses of broken and fallen stones are whirled about and ground down, till all the softer ones, such as the sandstones, are brought into the state of pure yellow sand. This sand is driven ashore by the waves, where it is shoved up in long wreaths, and dried by the sun. The winds now take it up, and spread it inland, or pile it immediately along the coast, where it presents itself in mountain masses. Such are the great sand dunes of the Grande Sables.
There are yet other theatres of action for this sublime mass of inland waters, where the lake has manifested, perhaps, still more strongly, its abrasive powers. The whole force of its waters, underthe impulse of a northwest tempest, is directed against prominent portions of the shore, which consist of black and hard volcanic rocks. Solid as these are, the waves have found an entrance in veins of spar, or minerals of softer texture, and have thus been led on their devastating course inland, tearing up large fields of amygdaloid, or other rock; or, left portions of them standing in rugged knobs, or promontories. Such are the east and west coasts of the great peninsula of Keweena, which have recently become the theatre of mining operations.
When the visitor to these remote and boundless waters comes to see this wide and varied scene of complicated geological disturbances and scenic magnificence, he is absorbed in wonder and astonishment. The eye, once introduced to this panorama of waters, is never done looking and admiring. Scene after scene, cliff after cliff, island after island, and vista after vista are presented. One day's scenes of the traveller are but the prelude to another; and when weeks, and even months, have been spent in picturesque rambles along its shores, he has only to ascend some of its streams, and go inland a few miles, to find falls, and cascades, and cataracts of the most beautiful or magnificent character. Go where he will, there is something to attract him. Beneath his feet are pebbles of agates; the water is of the most crystalline purity. The sky is filled, at sunset with the most gorgeous piles of clouds. The air itself is of the purest and most inspiring kind. To visit such a scene is to draw health from its purest sources, and while the eye revels in intellectual delights, the soul is filled with the liveliest symbols of God, and the most striking evidences of his creative power.
(b)Letters of Mr. M. Woolsey.Southern Literary Messenger, 1836. Oneöta, p. 322.
These spirited and graphic letters are unavoidably excluded. The evidence they bear to the purity of principle, justness of taste, and excellence of character of a young man, now no more, ought to preserve his name from oblivion. He accompanied me in 1831, as a volunteer, in a leisure moment, an admirer of nature, seeking health.